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Malaysia
is one country where sales of electronic goods are on the rise. People
from neighboring countries throng to Malaysia to buy fancy electronic
goods, but this practice over the years has led to the formation of
E-Wastes and stands as a threat to the living environment. Thanks to the
e-waste facilities that have been keeping a check over the rise of
e-waste.

Globalization has led to the vast development in various
regions all over the world. As the population grows, the ways of making
life simple also grow up gradually. In the verge of making life simple,
someone somewhere would come up with some technologies or device. The
best example of this fact would be portable fans in four-wheelers and
portable night lamps. Nowadays we even get to see on the USB. But most
of these devices and equipment come up with a shorter lifetime and they
never last for even a year or in some cases months.

An average
consumer would always end up putting it in the trash bin and these
accounts for scrap. We tend to understand that these would actually
decompose in due course of time, but they actually do not. Rather they
get recycled and come to us again in the form of use and throw
materials.

But recycling scrap is not a simple process. They go
through a process. As handling e-wastes through uninformed channels
could be hazardous to the environment and cause the release of CFC gases
causing ozone layer depletion.

Sorting

The first thing is
sorting out the devices and equipment separately. E-wastes could be any
electronic device which as a television and that is as small as a
computer chip or even a microprocessor. So the first step is sorting out
all these manually.

Dismantling/Reassembling

While sorting
involves separating different devices, dismantling involves reassembling
the devices. Every device is made up of components like a motor, coil,
battery, chip and a lot more. This is again an intensive process with
manpower involved.

First Size Reduction Process

Dismantling
could be impossible in certain cases i.e. if a component is inbuilt in
the device. So these are pressed hard and shredded to pieces less than 2
inches in diameter. By the end of this process, they become finer
e-waste pieces.

Second Size Reduction Process

Now, these
finer e-waste pieces go through an automated shaking process on a
conveyor belt. As these pieces are well spread, they are broken down
even more to pieces. They also undergo a dust extraction process.

Over Band Magnetic Separation

Any
metal or iron particles present in the e-waste pieces are removed in
this process. These particles are of no use after the reduction process.
Hence removing them becomes a necessity. They would sell as raw
material to scrap seekers.

Metallic & Non-metallic Components Separation

Separating
the metallic components such as copper, aluminum and brass leave only
the non-metallic components such as fiber, plastic, glass… behind. So
the segregated metallic components are also sold as raw materials to
steel and metal manufacturers.

Water Separation

The final
step involves a water wash to segregate all the non-metallic components
such as fiber, plastic, glass… that are again sent to relevant
manufacturers who would use to make new components out of it.

Regulatory Framework

Malaysia
is among the very few countries that have come up with a legal
framework to regulate e-waste management from generation to disposal.
Currently, e-waste management is planned for six devices and they are
television, refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioning unit,
personal computer, and mobile phone.

In 2012 alone, the amount of
e-waste generation in Malaysia was between 10 percent and 15 percent of
the total generated scheduled waste. Products getting outdated in a very
short span of time are considered as the reason why Malaysia is
producing more amount of e-waste. Hence even the hazardous waste
management programme implemented in 1989 was not effective to combat the
same.